When I pick a game that is so off, it makes me realize that I'm no expert. I picked Tulane +10 at Duke. The Green Wave were never in it, losing 48-27. Please keep this in mind, if you're playing my suggestions.Please, don't bet the house and don't try to get it all back in one swoop. That's the biggest mistake by any gambler and why the house easily makes money.I did go 2-1 in my top plays, however, nailing the over in Florida-Kentucky and winning on K-State, which beat Miami as a 12-point underdog. That makes me 7-5 on the season.Against the experts, I was 11-6. Jerry Hinnen leads the group with an astounding 50-27 mark. I'm second among the experts at 46-31.I need to admit I didn't study as much this week with the Jewish holiday starting Wednesday night.On to Week 5

This season I'll play along -- here on the message board -- with the 2011 experts, which feature some fresh faces, including new Senior Writer Brett McMurphy -- an excellent addition to the CBSSports.com team.

It will be interesting to see how many of the six experts break .500. I'm going to say none ... not when it comes to picking every Top-25 game.

I will include my top plays each week. Could be one, could be more, could be none. You have to pick your spots and I plan to beat that ugly 19-23-1 showing from 2010.

So on to Week 1.First team listed is my pick

THURSDAY UNLV +35.5 at No. 11 Wisconsin -- look for backdoor cover while UW plays third-stringers -- Top handicap play here: Over of 56 -- I'm going to ride UW overs until it kills me this season

No. 20 Mississippi State -27.5 at Memphis -- notice all the experts like the Bulldogs -- that means guaranteed Memphis cover, right?

I went 17-3 in Week 12. My losses were Iowa (over Ohio State), Miami (over Va. Tech) and San Diego State (over Utah).The Hawkeyes should have stuck to the power run game, but I'll take a Buckeyes victory any day … even if I picked against them.My overall record is now 206-64, but with Chip Patterson going 18-2, I lost another game in the standings to him and trail the leader by five games. Overall standings for the Experts: Chip 211-59, Darst 207-63, me 206-64, Jacobi 201-69, Dodd 200-70 & Horowitz 195-75. I don't know if I can catch Chip to successfully defend my title, but getting past Darst shouldn’t be a problem.

Boy, did last Saturday's Northwestern-Michigan State game irk me. I really thought the 'Cats would win and upset the No. 8 Spartans. NU fumbled at the 1 in the first quarter and blew a 17-0 lead. MSU took its first lead on a TD with 2:00 left.But how about another top team (Oklahoma) going down. None of the so-called experts picked Mizzou … nor did they/we pick the Badgers to win in Iowa City. For Week 8, I went 17-5, losing on OU, NU, Iowa, West Virginia (to Syracuse) and Texas (to Iowa State -- how did this possibly happen?). I'm 145-39 on the season, remaining one game back of Chip Patterson, who also went 17-5. I passed J. Darin Darst, who went 15-7, and Dennis Dodd, who crashed & burned at 12-10.Overall standings: Chip 146-38; me 145-39, Darst 144-40, Dodd & Adam Jacobi 141-43 & Jay Horowitz 133-51 … And they kicked me out?!?!?!On to Week 9TUESDAYNo. 2 Boise State over Louisiana TechTHURSDAYNo. 16 Florida State 33, North Carolina State 27SATURDAYNo. 24 USC 48, No. 1 Oregon 44No. 3 Auburn over MississippiNo. 4 TCU over UNLVNo. 18 Iowa 30, No. 5 Michigan State 20No. 14 Nebraska 44, No. 7 Missouri 30 (Play the over of 55)No. 8 Utah over Air ForceNo. 10 Ohio State over MinnesotaNo. 11 Oklahoma over ColoradoNo. 13 Stanford over WashingtonNo. 15 Arizona over UCLANo. 17 South Carolina over TennesseeNo. 19 Arkansas over VanderbiltNo. 20 Oklahoma State over Kansas StateNo. 22 Miami over VirginiaNo. 23 Mississippi State over KentuckyTexas over No. 25 BaylorGeorgia over Florida (Who would have thought neither would be ranked at this point?)Central Florida over East CarolinaTexas A&M over TexasWEEK 8 HANDICAPPING (4-0)I suggested lay the points in Ohio State 49, Purdue 0 (closed at 24) & overs inMichigan State 35, Northwestern 27 (closed at 51.5)Stanford 38, Washington State 28 (closed at 64.5)Nebraska 51, Oklahoma State 41 (closed at 58.5)I only like one play for the upcoming week (the over in Nebraska-MIzzou). If anything else hits me before Saturday, I'll post below.Interesting facts: The Longhorns were laying 21, making the Cyclones a nice +975. The Mountaineers were favored by 14 against the Orange.

Yep, I picked South Carolina last week. I was off on the score – I said 20-17 – but I still nailed it when calling for the No. 1 team in the country to go down.None of the so-called experts had South Carolina winning. This must be why they kicked me, the defending champion, out of their club. They were sick and tired of me embarrassing them every week. Did Dennis Dodd really pick Kansas State last week? KSU lost to Nebraska 48-13. Ouch!Stick to reporting Dennis. Avoid the predictions, will ya?However, I did drop the ball on Arizona (to Oregon State), Florida (to LSU), Miami (to FSU), Michigan (to MSU) and my upset call of Texas A&M (to Arkansas).So I went 17-5 in Week 6, making me 114-24 on the year. That leave me in second all alone, one game back of Facts & Rumors blogger Chip Patterson, who had an impressive 18-4 showing, beating me on my A&M pick with Arkansas and my Michigan pick with MSU.Now to Week 7THURSDAYNo. 25 West Virginia over South FloridaSATURDAYNo. 1 Ohio State 33, No. 18 Wisconsin 16No. 3 Boise State over San Jose StateNo. 4 TCU over BYU (play the over of 48.5)No. 5 Nebraska 31, Texas17No. 6 Oklahoma over Iowa StateNo. 7 Auburn 28, No. 12 Arkansas 27No. 8 Alabama over MississippiNo. 9 LSU over McNeese State (this is just wrong, playing a team like this in October)No. 10 South Carolina over KentuckyNo. 11 Utah over WyomingNo. 13 Michigan State over IllinoisNo. 15 Iowa over Michigan (I like the over of 53.5)No. 15 Florida State over Boston CollegeNo. 17 Arizonaover Washington StateNo. 19 Nevada over Hawaii (a small play on the under of 74)Texas Tech over No. 20 Oklahoma StateTexas A&M over No. 21 MissouriNo. 22Florida over Mississippi State (lay the 7.5)No. 23 Air Force over San Diego StateWashington over No. 24 Oregon StateN.C. State over East CarolinaSyracuse over PittsburghUSC over CalMORE HANDICAPPINGI like (just a little) Minnesota-Purdue over of 51WEEK 6 RECAP (17-5)Losses mentioned in lead-in graphs, but for handicapping purposes, I went 1-0, suggesting to take the 22 points in Minnesota-Wisconsin. That puts me on a six-game win streak!!!!

Dropped three games last week, going 15-3. That makes me 97-19 on the season, remaining tied with J. Darin Darst;Chip Patterson goes 16-2 last week to join us. Meanwhile, CBSSports.com Senior Writer Dennis Dodd still leads among the so-called experts, but he lost five games last week to fall to 98-18.

It's only a matter of time till I go sprinting past these guys – starting with my upset special in Columbia, S.C.My Week 6 picksTHURSDAYNo. 7 Nebraska 35, Kansas State 23FRIDAYNo. 22 Oklahoma State over La.-LafayetteSATURDAYNo. 19 South Carolina 20, No. 1 Alabama 17No. 2 Ohio State over IndianaNo. 3 Oregon over Washington StateNo. 4 Boise State over ToledoNo. 5 TCU over WyomingNo. 8 Auburn over KentuckyNo. 9 Arizona over Oregon StateNo. 10 Utah over Iowa StateTexas A&M over No. 11 ArkansasNo. 14 Florida 17, No. 12 LSU 16 (Yep, I'm predicting a Tigers safety)No. 13 Miami 30, No. 23 Florida State 24No. 16 Stanford over USCNo. 18 Michigan 35, No. 17 Michigan State 33No. 20 Wisconsin over Minnesota (22 points? Too many for this rivaly. Take it)No. 21 Nevada over San Jose StateNo. 24 Missouri over ColoradoNo. 25 Air Force over Colorado StateGeorgia over TennesseeNorth Carolina over ClemsonCal over UCLAWEEK 5 RECAP (15-3)Lost on USC to Washington (Trojan fans can't be too happy), N.C. State to Va. Tech (I did say take the 4 points) & Boston College to Notre Dame (I said take the 3 points).As for the handicapping, I was on fire last week, going 5-0!!! (Why wasn’t I in Vegas???): I suggested taking the points with the Hokies & Irish mentioned above and I hit the overs in Oklahoma-Texas, MSU-Wisconsin & Michigan-IU. Unfortunately, there weren’t many things that caught my eye for Week 6, only liking the 22 points in Minnesota-Wisconsin.